The assembly of the intergovernmental conference by the European Commission will be a physical start of Ukraine’s EU accession negotiations, said Vsevolod Chentsov, Ukraine’s ambassador to the EU.

Chentsov revealed to Ukrinform that Ukraine has only one act to adopt. This is the law about lobbying, which has already been submitted to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (the Ukrainian Parliament). Chentsov thinks there are reasons to believe that these conditions will be 100% fulfilled within the next few months.

"The European Commission must prepare a corresponding report and submit it for consideration by the EU member states in March in order to adopt the decision about the assembly of the so-called intergovernmental conference, which is essentially a physical start of the negotiations," he said.

Chentsov stressed that both sides must be actively preparing a negotiatory framework until March.

The European Union's leaders at a summit in Brussels accepted the European Commission's recommendation to begin accession negotiations with Moldova and Ukraine.

Although the decision on Kyiv had long been blocked by Hungary, its veto was overridden by persuading Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to leave the room during the vote and thus abstain from voting.

Orbán himself later claimed that he agreed to give up his veto right at the start of Ukraine’s EU accession talks since he would have many more opportunities to block this process.

Read more: Orbán's defeat or victory for Ukraine. Why is EU summit historic